Baggaley was successful but Knight failed to qualify

England have two players in Friday's men's singles first round at the English Open after Andrew Baggaley made it through qualifying in Sheffield.

Baggaley, 26, will join Middlesbrough's Paul Drinkhall, 19, who pre-qualified after winning the China Open in August.

But Darius Knight, who has been tabbed as a 2012 Olympic hopeful, missed out, losing to Italian Stefano Tomasi.

Scotland's top player Gavin Rumgay beat Belgian Benjamin Rogiers to qualify but Ryan Jenkins of Wales did not make it.

The event, described as the "Wimbledon of table tennis", is running for the 65th time but has been absent for the last eight years because of a lack of finances.

MATT SLATER'S BLOG The English Open is one of three major staging posts for British table tennis on the road to London 2012

Baggaley, from Milton Keynes, beat Raj Mondal of India and Denmark's Jakob Asmussen to reach the main competition.

England number three Danny Reed had a difficult day, losing in qualifying for the main men's singles event and in the Under-21 singles.

But in-form Chesterfield 16-year-old Liam Pitchford won for the second day in succession to qualify for the Under-21 tournament.

"I didn't play well on Wednesday but still won," Knight told BBC Radio 5 live.

"Today (Thursday) I felt better, but my ball in hand was not working very well. It wasn't the best day of my table tennis career.

"I need to stay positive and concentrate on the doubles. It was a large entry list and a strong entry as a result and I have to remember that."

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